The present invention relates to certain novel oxazolidine-2,4-diones substituted at the 5-position with an unsaturated cyclic, a saturated bicyclic or an unsaturated bicyclic radical of the formula C.sub.n H.sub.2n-3 or C.sub.n H.sub.2n-5 wherein n is an integer of value 5-9. These compounds possess hypoglycemic activity and so are useful in reducing the level of glucose in a hyperglycemic mammal, including man.
In spite of the early discovery of insulin and its subsequent wide-spread use in the treatment of diabetes, and the later discovery and use of sulfonylureas (e.g., chlorpropamide, tolbutamide, acetohexamide, tolazamide) and biguanides (e.g. phenformin) as oral hypoglycemic agents, the treatment of diabetes remains less than satisfactory. The use of insulin, necessary in a high percentage of diabetics where available synthetic hypoglycemic agents are not effective, requires multiple daily, usually self, injection. Determination of the proper dosage of insulin requires frequent estimations of the sugar in the urine or in the blood. The administration of an excess dose of insulin causes hypoglycemia, with effects ranging from mild abnormalities in blood glucose to coma, or even death. Where effective, a synthetic hypoglycemic agent is preferred over insulin, being more convenient to administer and less prone to cause severe hypoglycemic reactions. However, the clinically available hypoglycemics are unfortunately fraught with other toxic manifestations which limit their use. In any event, where one of these agents may fail in an individual case, another may succeed. A continuing need for hypoglycemic agents, which may be less toxic or succeed where others fail, is clearly evident.
In addition to the hypoglycemic agents cited above, a variety of other compounds have been reported to possess this type of activity, as reviewed recently by Blank [Burger's Medicinal Chemistry, Fourth Edition, Part II, John Wiley and Sons, N.Y. (1979), pp. 1057-1080]. Most recently, oxazolidine-2,4-diones substituted at the 5-position with various aromatic and heteroaromatic groups have been described as having hypoglycemic activity. (Schnur, Belgian Pat. Nos. 889,757 and 889,758, both publicly available Jan. 28, 1982).
The oxazolidine-2,4-diones of the present invention are novel, in spite of the fact that the oxazolidine-2,4-diones are broadly known as a class of compounds [for an extensive review, see Clark-Lewis, Chem. Rev. 58, pp. 63-99 (1958)]. Among the compounds known in this class are 5-phenyloxazolidine-2,4-dione, variously reported as an intermediate to certain beta-lactam antibacterial agents (Sheehan, U.S. Pat. No. 2,721,197), as an antidepressant agent (Plotnikoff, U.S. Pat. No. 3,699,229), as an anticonvulsant agent [Brink and Freeman, J. Neuro. Chem. 19 (7), pp. 1783-1799 (1972)], and as a hypoglycemic agent (Schnur, loc. cit.).
Oxazolidine-2,4-dione and substituted oxazolidine-2,4-diones (specifically, the 5-methyl and 5,5-dimethyl derivatives) have been reported as acid moieties suitable for forming acid-addition salts with the hypoglycemic, basic biguanides (Shapiro and Freedman, U.S. Pat. No. 2,961,377). We have determined that neither oxazolidine-2,4-dione itself, nor 5,5-dimethyloxazolidine-2,4-dione possess the hypoglycemic activity of the compounds of the present invention.
Recently, a group of spiro-oxazolidine-2,4-dione derivatives have been reported which are aldose reductase inhibitors, thus finding utility in the treatment of certain complications of diabetes (Schnur, U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,642).